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Chapter 2 “The Tutorial”

   3…2..1.**

  A pulsing, cerulean sphere flared to life, its harsh light cutting through an endless, suffocating expanse of absolute black. As Scott’s eyes painfully adjusted to the sudden glow, he realized the darkness wasn't just a room—it was a void. Looking down at his hands, a wave of vertigo washed over him. He was floating freely, entirely untethered in the zero-gravity of a cold, silent abyss.

  

  The blue sphere spoke in a semi-sentient, robotic drone. With every synthetic syllable, the surface of the sphere violently distorted and rippled like liquid glass. The terrifying part was that Scott didn't hear the voice with his ears. The sound bypassed the vacuum of space entirely, vibrating directly against his skull and echoing through his teeth as a heavy, invasive telepathy.

  “Am I dead?” Scott asked in a frantic voice, his chest heaving as he tried to see if his vocal cords even worked in the emptiness.

  

  “Ok good! Are you God?” Scott asked again, his heart hammering against his ribs, trying to get a better idea if he would have to atone for his sins or not.

  

  “Phew, I dodged that bullet for now I guess. May I ask where we are?” Scott continued, trying to swallow the lump of panic in his throat.

  

  “Ok, if we are in the system, and you are the system wouldn't that be kind of weird. Or could this still be heaven? Or fuck, maybe Hell? Please don't be Hell.” Scott asked, pointing his bare finger nervously up into the infinite dark, and then down.

  

  “So no to heaven or no to Hell?” Scott asked, giving the shifting, glowing sphere a good look over while throwing his hands up in sheer frustration.

  

  “Ok cool because that would suck cursing in front of the Almighty father and all.” Scott murmured. “Hmm what questions should I ask? Oh I got one, Where is this system? And are we still in the milky way?”

  

  “Man you just sounded like a robot version of the little green alien master that uses the so-called force, cool and creepy at the same time. But yeah I guess I have more questions. If you're not God and this isn't heaven nor hell and we are in the system then may I ask what am I doing here?” Scott continued.

  He looked down, suddenly hyper-aware of the biting chill of the void against his free-floating, naked body. He quickly clamped his hands over his important bits, his face flushing with a sudden, intense heat despite the cold.

  

  “Whoa whoa whoa, why are we restarting my universe here? There was nothing wrong with my universe besides you know Taylor the Swifty.” Scott said swiftly. “Also if you hadn't noticed, I'm not a robot to be reset and do you have any clothes? Because I'm pretty sure I'm naked here and it is a bit uncomfortable floating here and talking to you in my birthday suit. Hey you're not peeping are you? I mean, I don't think you have any eyes. Do you?”

  

  “Eh I'm kind of getting a creeper vibe from you there, Mr. System. You're not a creeper are you Mr. System? If you don't mind me calling you Mr. System.” He said, trying to clumsily dog-paddle backward in the zero-gravity.

  

  “Eh yeah, that's what a creeper would say.” Scott said, giving the glowing orb the stink eye through the dark.

  

  “No what, ahh I see what you're doing here.” Scott replied, aggressively shaking his finger at the system while crossing his arms, and then frantically covering his important bits again, realizing he had left himself completely exposed for a split second.

  

  “Wait, I have more questions.” Scott said, his voice echoing into the void, desperately trying to get the machine's attention.

  

  With a sharp, digital chime, a cascade of translucent, glowing blue screens materialized out of thin air, hovering directly in his field of vision. It was a staggering wall of scrolling data, turning the terrifying emptiness into a high-tech sci-fi interface.

  [Druid]

  Advanced Starting Class Combat Proficiencies: Bow and arrows, Blunt weapons. Stat bonuses per level: +2 Wis, +1 Str, +1 Vit, +1 Perception, +1 Free Point.

  [Healer]

  Basic Starting Class Combat Proficiencies: Medium armor, Blunt weapons, Swords. Stat Bonuses per level: +1 Str, +1 Agi, +2 Vit, +2 Wis, +1 Free Point.

  [Holy Knight]

  Advanced Starting Class Combat Proficiencies: Heavy armor, Sword and shield, Heavy weapons alongside blunt weapons. Stat Bonuses per level: +2 Str, +1 Agi, +1 Vit, +1 Wis, +1 Free Point.

  [Magus]

  Advanced Starting Class Combat Proficiencies: Light armor, Medium weapons, Small weapons. Stat Bonuses per level: +2 Str, +1 Agi, +2 Int, +1 Free Point.

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  [Monk]

  Basic Starting Class Combat Proficiencies: All Weapons. Stat bonuses per level: +1 Str, +1 Agi, +1 Vit, +1 End, +1 Will, +1 Free Point.

  [Necromancer]

  Advanced Starting Class Combat Proficiencies: Knives, Blunt Weapons, Spell Craft. Stat bonuses per level: +2 Wis, +2 Vit, +1 End, +1 Will, +1 Free Point.

  [Rogue]

  Basic Starting Class Combat Proficiencies: Daggers, Light weapons, Poisons, Stealth. Stat bonuses per level: +2 Agi, +2 Per, +1 Vit, +1 End, +1 Free Point.

  [Ranger]

  Basic Starting Class Combat Proficiencies: Bow and Arrow, Short sword, Daggers, Knives. Stat bonuses per level: +2 Agi, +1 Str, +1 Per, +1 Wis, +1 Free Point.

  [Slayer]

  Advanced Starting Class Combat Proficiencies: Bow and arrow, Swords, Knives, Daggers, Blunt weapons. Stat bonuses per level: +2 Agi, +1 Str, +1 Vit, +1 Perception, +1 Free Point.

  [Sorcerer]

  Basic Starting Class Combat Proficiencies: Light armor, Light weapons, Spell craft. Stat Bonuses per level: +4 Wis, +1 Int, +1 Free Point.

  [Witch]

  Basic Starting Class Combat Proficiencies: Spell craft, Trapping. Stat bonuses per level: +2 Int, +2 Wis, +1 Vit, +1 Free Point.

  [Warrior]

  Basic Starting Class Combat Proficiencies: All Weapons. Stat bonuses per level: +2 Str, +1 Agi, +1 Vit, +1 End, +1 Free Point.

  [Wizard]

  Advanced Starting Class Combat proficiencies: Light weapons, Medium weapons. Stat Bonuses per level: +2 Wis, +3 Int, +1 Free Point.

  “So, I like the idea of magic, but I've always known magic to be weak against a great warrior,” Scott pondered, his eyes scanning the glowing text as he physically swiped his hand through the hard-light projections. “See, magic users can't handle melee fighters in any manner, well at least good ones. Once you've run out of spells you're pretty much useless. Normally I like to do a mix of ranged and melee like that of either [Slayer] or [Ranger] classes, and most of the time I tend to choose the ranger class in video games or RPGs. But I think I'll take the Slayer class this time.” Scott mused, finally making his firm decision and tapping the screen.

  **You have chosen the slayer class. Confirm?Yes / No**

  “Yes.” Scott said, his voice echoing with absolute finality.

  **You have obtained the Slayer class**

  [Race: Human (Iota)] The most widespread race in the universe, humans are known for their remarkable adaptability and boundless ambition. Lacking the long lifespans of elves, the ingrained magic of gnomes, or the stalwart resilience of dwarves, they instead possess an insatiable drive to master any skill and overcome any obstacle. Human empires rise and fall in the blink of an eye for other races, but their impact is undeniable, and their influence is felt everywhere. Human Traits: Ability Score Increase: Your ability scores each increase by 1 each level with one free point.

  Abilities Gained:[Mark Of Prey (Common)]

  Skills Gained:

  Items Gained:

   [Medium Bag (Common)] empty

  Mess kit that has cooking gear and flint and steel

  [Bedroll(Common)]

   A set of medium leather armor(Common)

   [Dagger(Common)]

   [Leather Boots(Common)]

   [Waterskin(Common)]

   [Short bow(Common)]

   [Short sword (Common)]

   [Quiver: 20 arrows]

   [50 ft of rope]

  [Simple clothes]

  [Health potions(Common)Iota] x 5

  [Mana potions(Common)Iota] x 5

  “Alright, let's have a look at my base stats. Where do I see the base Stats? Hmm, maybe hit this icon and yep here we go....” Scott thought, pressing a pulsing rune on the corner of his visual display.

  [Name: Scott Armidais Wheaton] [Race: [Human] Iota] [Class: Slayer level 0] [Profession: None]

  Health Points (HP): 90/90 Mana Points (MP): 70/70 Stamina (STM): 110/110

  Stats-

  Strength:

  Agility:

  Vitality:

  Wisdom:

  Intelligence:

  Endurance:

  Toughness:

  Perception:

  Willpower:

  Skills-

  [Dagger Mastery(Common)]

  [Medium armor proficient]

  [Short Sword mastery(Common)]

  [Short bow Mastery(Common)]

  [Weapons proficient all]

  Abilities-

  [Mark of Prey(Common)]

  [Scan]

  “Not bad for stats, at least I hope it's not bad compared to other people. Wait, are there going to be other people or am I starting this alone?” Scott continued, firing questions into the dark to get more information since he didn't know what was advanced or just ordinary when it came to his new numbers.

  The system paid Scott no attention. Another blinding, crimson screen popped up, violently overriding his stat page.

  All of a sudden, the heavy, crushing weight of reality snapped back. In the blink of an eye, Scott was covered from head to toe. The stiff drag of coarse woven clothes clung to him, quickly followed by the rigid, oiled smell of medium leather armor wrapping tightly around his broad chest. The solid, comforting weight of a scabbard dropped onto his hip, and tight leather boots forcefully gripped his freezing feet.

  “Wow, that was quick. One second I was naked, the next second I was clothed.”

  **Tutorial commencingYou have 180 days to survive. Beware of the beasts, humanoids, and harsh environments, which all will test you and try to slay you. If you die, there aren't extra lives and you will not be resurrected unless you have a healer that can do so. There are treasures hidden in each area. The treasures that you find will be based on your level. There are areas to be unlocked once you have hit your level cap to unlock it or once you have finished a mission. But beware the creatures that protect them, for some may be easy to acquire loot while others you will fight for your life to obtain.**

  **Tutorial commencing in 3....2....1.....**

  "Wait!” Scott yelled hurriedly. The black void began to violently fracture and tear apart around him, blinding white light pouring through the cracks. “You haven't answered all of my questions!"

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